Wheel.



m. 648,426. Patent-ed May I, 1900.

E. OLUND &. P. J. CAESAR. V

WHEEL.

(Application filed Apr. 4, 1898. Renewed Oct. 2, 1899.) (No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet I.

Iii/l III/I Patented May I, I900. E. DLUND &. P. J. CAESAR.

WHEEL. (Application filed Apr. 4, 1898. Renewed Oct. 2, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

NITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

EMIL OLUNDAND PETER J. CAESAR, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA; SAID CAESARASSIGNOR TO SAID OLUND AND JOHN CAESAR.

WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,426, dated May 1,1900.

Application filed Apri14,1898. Renewed October 2, 1899- Serial No.732,407. N0 model To all whom it"mcty concern:

Be it known that we,EM1L OLUND and PETER J. CAESAR, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Duluth, in thecounty of St. Louis andState of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

Our invention relates to wheels of the type employing tension-spokessuitably secured to a flexible rim and extending alternately to oppositeends of the hub, so as to form a selfsustaining structure in a mannerwell known in the art. 7

The object of our invention is to construct such a wheel in such amanner that it will have a requisite amount of resiliency between theaxle and the rim to take up shocks and afford all the ease of ridingwhich is generally obtainable from pneumatic tires or other forms ofexpensive cushioning devices applied to the rim of the wheel.

Weaccomplish the object of our invention by arranging the parts at theends of the hub to which the spokes are attached so that said parts,while normally spread apart with suificient force to maintain asubstantial structure, will be held in suchposition by means whichyields under the stress of a load imposed upon a wheel. Since the spokesare normally inclined away from the plane of the rim, it follows thatthe yielding of the connection between the spokes and the hub in anaxial direction affords such a yielding or resilient action between theaxle upon which the load is imposed and the rim by which the load issupported that a complete absorption of shocks will result and as greatif not greater ease of riding obtained as is obtainable from any of theWell-known forms of cushioning devices.

Our improvements consist in the novel features of construction ashereinafter described and claimed. V

In order that our invention may be fully understood,we will proceed todescribe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figurel is an axial section'of a hub in which are embodied by a preferredconstruction the'features of our present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a wheel, partly broken away, embodying the sameconstruction as illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary viewthereof, illustrating by transverse section a preferred form of tire.Fig. 3 is atransverse section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1, looking inwardly.Fig. 4: is a side elevation, partly in section, representinga modifiedconstruction of hub embodying the principle of spoke attachment yieldinginwardly and axially on the hub. Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly insection, representing another modified construction. Fig. 6 isan axialsection representing still another modified construction. Fig. 7 is adetail vertical section illustrative of means for securing the ends ofspokes to the rim and to the hub attachments. Fig. 8 is a detail endelevation of the hub part of the same. Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of ahub;flange and of a spoke having yielding connection with said flange.Fig. 10 is a view of the outer end of one of the spokes. Fig. 11 is adetail view showing another form of yielding spoke in which a turnbuckleis employed.

1 represents the hub of the wheel, which for purposes of illustration ishere'represent ed as a common form of bicycle-hub provided with an axle2 and turning bearings consisting of the cone 3, balls 4:, and box 5. 6represents a driving sprocket-wheel secured to one of the boxes. Theseparts, however, bear no special relation to our, present invention, andthey may be replaced by other equivalent parts, as maybe dictated bychoice or purposes for which the wheel is to be employed.

8 represents tension-spokes which form a connection between the flexibleor yielding rim l and the hub. Since the load supported by .the rimthrough the medium of the hub imposes tension on the upper spokes ofthese spokes and since they extend outwardly from the vertical plane ofthe rim toward the opposite ends of the hub, it followsthat if the innerends of the spokes connected to the respective ends of the hub areallowed to approach the vertical plane of the rim under a load the lowerspokes will thereby be permitted to yield and a resilient connectionbetween the lower part of the rim and the hub, available uniformly atevery point on the periphery of the Wheel as the wheel turns, will beobtained.

p *which said parts slide.

To provide for this inward axial yielding of the spoke connection at thehub, the attaching-flanges 9 are mounted movably upon the hub and keptnormally spread apart by yielding force; to employ as the yieldingspacing medium a spring or springs '10, surrounding the hub andpreferably divided by a central disk 11 and bearing at their'outer endsagainst the flanges 9. The disk 11 is secured fixedly'bya screw 11. Tocause the flanges 9 to work easily upon the hub 1, thelyareprefer'ablyprovided with inwardly-extendingsleeves 12, which afiord an elongatedbearing between the flange and the hub and permit the introduction ofsliding ball-bearings 13 between the relatively-moving parts. We preferto em ploy four sets of balls 13 at each end of the hubfas will beunderstood upon reference to Figs. 1 and 6, and to mount these balls ingrooves 14, formed between the flanges 9 or their sleeves 12 and theaxle-box 1, upon 'By thus interposing the balls we accomplish theimportant additional'result of keying the flanges against ro tarymovement upon the hub. The ends'of the grooves 14 may be'closed againstthe escape of the balls by radially-inserted screws 15 01 by othersuitable means.

16 represents internally-threaded adjusting-nuts fitting upon theexterior threads 12 of the sleeves 12, by means of which the ten sionput upon the springs 10 may be regulated at will. 1717representatelescopingsheathing surrounding the working parts of thecollapsible hub, of "which the central section 17 may beheld in placeupon the disk 11 by screws 17.

By referring to Figs. 4, 5, and 6 itwill be observed that other forms ofexpanding means may be employed for keeping the hub normally extendedwhile yielding to permit cellapse under stress of a load imposed upon 'av 'vheel. For i'nsta'nce,,as shown in Fig. 4, a fi'at spiral spring :orsprings 10 may be employed in connection with adjusting-nuts 16 andintermediate stop or disk 11*, said nuts and disk being provided withannular'd'epres stems to receive the abuttingends of the springs; or, asshown in Fig. 5, a dished or flat form of spring 10 made up of a numherbf curved radial arms, may be employed on opposite sides of a disk 11and having abutment against the respective sleeves 12 of V thehub-flanges 9 through the medium of ad- We prefer with the rimandspreading tension-spokes an axially-collapsing hub having means forholding it normally distendedwith a yielding force. It will of course beunderstood that this yielding force is commensurate with the load'whichthe wheel isintended to support, so as to-obtain the necessaryresiliency to afford ease of riding and absorption of shocks, but at thesome time to sustain the wheel in its proper shape. We prefer to employin wheel a special means, for attachment of the spokes to the rim and tothe hub. This means-c0nsists,.primarily, of tubular screws 18, having intheir ends transverse slots 19, so that the spoke 8 may be introduced inthe bore of the screw I and then formed withlan eye or other form ofenlargement' 20 in the slot 19 to prevent'withdrawal of the spoke fromthe screw. For securing the spoke to the rim we provide aninternally-threaded sleeve 21, which is secured at one end to the rim bya screw 22 and receives at its inner end one of the, screws 18. Byturning the screw 18 into the sleeve 21 the spoke. 8 may be tightened atwill. For attachment of the spoke to the flange 9 said flange isprovided with a series of perforations in its rim 23, which receive thescrews 18, while just within the rim 23 is an annular stop 24, againstwhich the screws 18 may impinge, so as to prevent inward movement ofth'e spoke-head when the spoke is relaxedby the axial collapsin g of thehub. One or other of the heads 20 in thescrews 18 is made ofsuch shapethat the spoke may turn in the screw andavoid twisting the spoke intightening it. The slot 19 in the screw 18 is therefore simplyrepresentative of an enlargement which will receive the head of thespoke and need not be of any particular shape.

' The rim may be provided with a rubber shoe or tire 24, as shown inFig. 2, to preventslipping. I

If it is desired to use a spoke too heavy to bend under the yieldingrim, the spokes may be made to yield longitudinally under compression,while still offering a rigid support tained by the means illustrated inFig. 11, where the spoke is divided into two parts 8 8 connected by aturnbuckle 8 in which one'of the spoke-sections is screwed, while theother is headed, so as to yield longitudij nally under compression ofthe spoke, but

connection with the yielding feature of the ofier rigid support undertension, or it is obvious from an inspection of Fig. 7 that thenecessary yielding efiect might be obtained by allowing ample room inthe sleeve 21 for movement of the head 20, formed on the spoke 8.

Having thus described our invention, the following is what we claim asnew therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a wheel, a flexible rim and the described means for attachingspokes to the hub, consisting of the hub-flanges having an and affordingthe abutment for the resilient medium, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

3. In a wheel, the combination of the hubfiange 9 having a perforatedrim and an abutment 24 within said rim, the spokes 8 and the screws 18through which the spokes are passed, provided with slots 19 in which thespokes are headed and impinging against the abutment 24: to preventdisplacement of the spokes, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

4. A wheel comprising an axle-box or hub, formed with roller-grooves, aflexible rim, flanges having inwardly-extending sleeves formed withroller-grooves, rollers in said grooves, means for holding the flangesoutsheathing, and the spokes rigid under tension and yielding undercompression; sub stantially as described.

EMIL OLUND. PETER J. CAESAR.

Witnesses: I

A. L. HUDSON, E. M. BARKER.

Ward with yielding pressure, the telescoping

